My take on things

As a caveat to my review I’ve been a Netflix customer on and off for close to 10 years. My Amazon Prime video experience only lasted a month.

Streaming movies has been something that has been around for a while but anyone who has used it sings it praises about how convenient and quick (most of the time) it is to use. To think that 10-15 years ago we were all trucking down to our local mom and pop video store or local Blockbuster to rent a movie. Netflix revolutionized streaming video for easier access to media at home. I’ve been a faithful Netflix user for many years and have been mostly satisfied with what they have in terms of content. Recently after hearing that Amazon got exclusive streaming rights to HBO’s old content I decided to leave Netflix as there were many HBO old shows that I wanted to see that Netflix wouldn’t have access to. After being with the service for the month, I ended up going back to Netflix. Ironically, right before the HBO streaming went active. Here’s why:

Queue Management

Wow, Netflix completely destroys Amazon in this regard. Netflix has the setup of multiple profiles so each person can maintain their own list of what they want to watch. Amazon has one long list called “My Watchlist” that is only for the Prime account holder. Another thing Netflix does well is when you add a show, you have the show on your list with access to all the seasons. On Amazon, you need to add each separate season to your list. Netflix wins this area hands down. Amazon really needs to work on how it manages it’s content for user viewing.

Advantage: Netflix

Finding Content

Both services have search options. Depending on the device your using, it can be cumbersome typing in a search term. I primarily used Amazon Instant Video and Netflix on a Roku 3. Navigating a keyboard with the remote is painful but using the Android Roku app has a keyboard built in which helps. Both services have their content arranged by genre (comedy, family, action, horror, etc). Amazon has different sections like “Movies with Strong Female Leads” and “Enjoyable Animated Family movies with a Squirrel” or whatever. Netflix’s suggestions are usually “Because you watched XXXX”. Browsing both services I always have the feeling that I’m missing out on tons of movies because I don’t know what to search for and only certain movies are displayed in these genre/suggestion areas.

Advantage: Neither

Content Variety

Both of these vary greatly with the deals each service has signed with content providers. With content providers like the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX) and cable outlets (HBO, Showtime) being every stingier with their licensing rights, it’s not always the best selection. However Netflix has a many year headstart on Amazon so volume/number wise they have much more. Quality wise is up for debate. Amazon now has the old HBO shows but Netflix has Disney (animated movies). Amazon has Viacom (MTV, Nickelodeon). In terms of new release movies, Amazon has a non-Prime option of renting movies which Netflix doesn’t have but to rent a new HD movie is around $5-6 for one viewing. Netflix has way more TV shows/series. My wife and I watched Orphan Black on Amazon before we cancelled with Netflix didn’t have.

Advantage: Depends on what you’re looking for

Access to streaming

Netflix has it’s app/viewing options on nearly every device out there. iOS, Android, PC, game consoles (Xbox, Playstation), smart TVs, and media devices (Roku, Western Digital WDTV, etc). If you have a device, odds are you can get Netflix on it. Amazon is pretty close but one thing that boggles my mind is no Android app. My guess is that this is due to the Android fork they run on their Kindle devices. Still with Android slowly becoming the more used mobile operating system it’s in their best interest to have an Android app to view their Instant Video.

Advantage – Slightly Netflix

Price

Amazon’s Prime video comes free as part of it’s Prime service which has recently gone up to $99 a year. This is charged yearly so when I signed up for the video I had the $99 charge. After cancelling after a month, they refunded around $94 which was nice. Netflix charges monthly which is around $10 a month with tax (~$120 a year). Yes Prime access gets you free 2 day shipping but you can also get this by having a Prime member share their access with you for free. Only the paying Prime account holder gets access to the video piece but everyone gets the free 2 day shipping. Another feature, that I thought I’d get to enjoy but later discovered I couldn’t, was the Kindle sharing library. It allows you to have access to new Kindle books each month. However this is only on Kindle devices, not the Kindle app. LAME. So I guess price to value, Prime might seem like a better, cheaper option but if you’re only using it for streaming video I don’t think it’s worth it as their content is pretty lacking compared to Netflix.

Advantage – Debatable

Long story short, I went back to Netflix. The profile options so all my family members can have their own lists is really nice. Yeah the content isn’t the best ever but they’re always adding new stuff. Another thing that’s a bit irksome is the exclusivity rights. Netflix has said when they sign deals they want to be the sole provider of that content. I think this really limits how many deals they get. Although lately when a big deal for content is signed, it’s exclusive to that provider (Amazon got HBO and Downton Abbey, Netflix had Starz and now has Disney). It’s a lose for consumers but with these licensing deals it’s sadly become the norm. Each service has decent content with variety but the size of the library give Netflix a big advantage. Bottom line comes down to how much you want to pay, what kind of access you have and what shows/movies are on the service you want to watch.

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I wanted to give my take on yesterday’s big news regarding the future of Xbox. I’ll break this down piece by piece.

1) Xbox One will now be sold without a Kinect as a secondary choice to the Premium bundle that includes Kinect

I think this was a mistake on Microsoft’s part. One of my hesitations with buying the Xbox one was the Kinect support. I bought it for Xbox 360 and felt slighted when all of the games were mediocre with the exception of the Dance Central series. By selling it as an accessory, developers are less likely to make a game either focusing on Kinect’s capabilities (Dance Central) or including extra features (voice control in Skyrim) because only the people who have the device can use it. Another negative was releasing it so late in the 360’s life-cycle. Why should people buy this device when the console is near end of life? Microsoft tried to fix this by bundling the new Kinect with Xbox One as mandatory. Developers now were guaranteed that everyone who owned an Xbox One would have a Kinect. With this new direction, they’ve essentially doomed the Kinect. Yes voice commands are great and add to the experience but you’ve now split the vision into two paths, one with Kinect and one without at the expense of sales. I understand why they did it. With lagging sales behind the PS4 they felt like they had to do something to catch up. By dropping the mandatory Kinect, they’ve dropped the price $100 and it’s now the same $399 as the PS4. Let’s be honest, parents buying these consoles for their kids who know nothing about specs buy it based on price. That’s it.

2) Games with Gold moves to PS+ type model

Before if you had Xbox Live you got two free games every month, a retail game and an arcade game that was free to keep forever, even if you cancelled your Gold subscription. Now they plan to release multiple games each month for free but if you cancel your sub, you lose access to the games. From what I’ve read this only applies to the Xbox One not the 360. I think this is a great idea. Xbox without an Xbox Live Gold subscription really diminishes the full features and use of the console. Most everyone has it who owns an Xbox and this gives us more value for our money. It’s a blatant copy of PlayStation Plus but I think it’s a welcomed change.

3) Deals with Gold

Finally. Microsoft is going to heavily discount digital games on Xbox. One conscious decision I’ve made with my Xbox One is to try and stay digital with regards to how I purchase my games. If I’m buying a game on release day I’m paying the same price whether I go with a physical disc or the digital download. The major drawback to this is months after release the physical copies have dropped signifcantly in price but digital prices remain at $60. I’ve been wanting to play Ryse and Forza Motorsport 5 for a long time but refuse to pay full price for them. Microsoft has said they plan to discount 50-75% off the retail price of games.

4) Moving apps from behind the pay-wall

This was a long time coming. PlayStation has always had it where you could use Netflix and other apps without having a PlayStation Plus subscription. The Xbox required you to have a Gold membership to use Netflix/Hulu and other entertainment apps. Many people hated this because why should I have to pay for a Netflix sub and then pay for an Xbox Gold sub just to use Netflix on the Xbox? This is another strategy copied from Sony but I think it opens the door to more people potentially buying an Xbox as an entertainment device.

All of these changes start on June 9th ,which also happens to be Microsoft’s press conference at E3. I like most of the changes they’ve made but I feel like they’ve thrown in the towel on the Kinect at the expense of short term sales numbers. One of the reasons I went Xbox over PlayStation is I felt like it was truly “next-gen” with the new Kinect integration. Now it feels like they’ve taken a step backwards. Microsoft, PLEASE don’t make me regret buying a Kinect. Again. Here’s to hoping that developers don’t give up on it either or use it as an afterthought.

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So a few posts ago I mentioned that I was going to purchase the Xbox One over the Playstation 4. I can say that I did purchase it in December of 2013. Let me first say that the Xbox shouldn’t have been released when it was. The OS could have baked a little bit longer and been in better shape for its initial offering. That being said, it’s come a long way since then. Microsoft is releasing near monthly updates and listening to user feedback to put in what it has been sorely missing. Since I purchased it the following features have been added:

Twitch broadcasting

Friends online notifications

Battery usage icon

Hard drive usage icon

Party chat improvements (chat on by default, cross game chat)

Stereo headset and adapter support

USB Keyboard support

Some of these may look like they should have been there at launch and honestly, they should have but Microsoft has shown they’ve learned from their missteps and are listening to their users now. Another thing I think Xbox has shown to have over its competition is games. I have read and know of people that have PS4s that aren’t using them because there’s no games to play. The launch titles and release since then give Xbox the advantage. Several of those titles being Ryse, Forza 5, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty Ghosts, Titanfall, Peggle 2, Trials Fusion and Killer Instinct. There are a few things that are a bit irritating though. One is navigating party chat when you’re in a game. Typically it ‘snaps’ (puts it on the right side of the screen) the chat while your game runs in 75% of the screen on the left. I sometimes have trouble making the game go full screen and it’s not quite clear how to do that. Another thing that is frustrating is the price of digital releases. One decision I’ve made with this console is to go all digital. I don’t want to be swapping discs in and out to play games. However, there have been only 1 or 2 sales on digital releases and then they go back to full price. Why can I buy a new game at $20-30 cheaper on a disc when the digital is full price?

Overall I’m pretty happy with my Xbox One. I’ve found I only use the Kinect for voice navigation since I’m in a room that is too small to play Kinect games. The integration into the TV is nice as well to be able to turn on my Xbox and my TV at the same time with my voice. I look forward to what Microsoft has to show at E3 as far as games.

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I read an interesting article on a talk that Bill Gates had where he mentioned that low skill jobs will eventually be replaced by robots and software. I think we’re just starting to see the tip of that iceberg. Tesla, for example, has almost completely automated their production line by using robots. Look at self checkouts at retail stores. It won’t be long before retail workers, fast food workers, and other low skill workers will be replaced by automation. Look at Amazon’s warehouse operations. Can you picture this happening at retail stores where shelves will be restocked like this?

That’s not to say that all of those jobs will be gone. There will still have to be people to upkeep, maintain and possibly operate those robots. The question will be whether people will want or be able to be trained to do so. Another interesting take from the story was how Gates said that we’d have to give incentives to business to continue to hire those low wage workers. If they aren’t being hired the unemployed will skyrocket causing a major drain on our economic health. He mentioned cutting the payroll tax or income tax as options. He also said the government may need to get on their knees and beg to have those workers hired by companies. While I think he’s pretty close to accurate on this thoughts, I think he’s wrong on the time frame. 20 years seems to far out for that to happen, I feel like it will happen sooner. Look at how far we’ve come with technology since the mid 90s. The internet was just starting to come into fruition around 1996. Look how far cell phones have come in the last 10 years. The bottom line is people will need to get on the technology train or risk getting enveloped in the wake as it pulls away from the station.

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Since the launch of the next generation consoles, I’ve gone back and forth several times as to which one to choose. I own both consoles from the previous generation, the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. The lion share of my usage was on the 360. I purchased the PS3 because I wanted to play the exclusives on that particular console. Unfortunately I never really got the desire to play them, other than Uncharted, and ultimately ended up using it primarily for Netflix streaming and playing Blu-Ray discs. When both new consoles were launched neither really screamed “this is the one to buy!!” With the exception of Titanfall, none of the announced games at the time sounded all that exciting. However my downfall was probably reading too much on the internet about both consoles, reviews and feedback from gamers which fed the consumerism beast in me to purchase a new one.

Once I had made the decision to purchase, the next decision was which one. I had made a pros/cons list and when I thought I had made my final decision something I read the next day seemed to sway me the other way. I ended up going with the Xbox One for the following reasons:

1. Online membership–I already had an Xbox Live Gold subscription that goes into 2015. If I had gone PS4 I would have to maintain two memberships as I plan on keeping my 360.

2. Friends–the bulk of my friends are already on Xbox Live so I decided to stay there

3. Potential–to me it just seems like once the bugs are ironed out the Xbox One has more growth potential than the PS4. Microsoft knows and makes software so they have the capability to make it awesome

4. Game trade up–I had already purchased Battlefield 4 for 360 and had the coupon to trade up to the Xbox One version for $10. Would have lost out on that going to PS4.

5. Controller–I never really like the PS3 controller. The side by side joysticks just never felt right to me. While the PS4 controller seems like it’s much better, the side by side sticks instead of askew like the 360 made me hesitant. The Xbox 360 controller is the best I’ve ever used. Since not too much changed, I decided to stay with Xbox.

6. Batteries and battery life–I like the fact I can swap batteries on my controller. With reports of short battery life on the PS4 controller (because of the large LED light), a short charging cable and a non-replaceable battery, it made my decision easier.

7. Exclusives–While the bulk of the games I play are multiplatform, Titanfall really captured my interest. Had I gone PS4, I would have missed out on it. Plus none of the PS4 exclusives really grabbed me. Uncharted, while a good looking and fun game, isn’t a system seller to me.

8. Kinect–While I felt slighted about buying the original Kinect and having them never really reach the potential I had hoped with either the hardware or the games, this almost swayed me away from the Xbox One. However, with the voice navigation and the possible potential (please don’t burn me on this MS) my interest was piqued again.

9. Supply–Since both console releases, I’ve seen the Xbox One in stock multiple times. I’ve never seen the PS4 in stock. My guess is Sony is either having difficulty keeping up with demand or there’s an issue withe manufacturing yields getting the output to where it needs to be. I could have waited for supply to outpace demand but wanted a console sooner than that.

Both systems play Blu-ray so that was a non-factor. The TV integration didn’t really play into my decision either. We cut the cord years ago and never plan on going back. I’m also hoping that Microsoft can improve their quality of Games for Gold so as to at least compare to Playstation Plus and their game offerings each month.

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A while back we had a speaker at our Sunday morning service that gave an great and inspiring message. His name was Bill Allison and he was from Cadre Ministries talking about Disciplemaking. The overarching message was how we as believers need to break it down to be simple, namely to Love God and Love People. However one of the things that struck me from the message was what he mentioned as “the three C’s”. He said that you can really tell where a person’s heart is and where there passion is by these three things.

Checkbook – What a person spends their money on

Calendar – How they spend their time

Conversation – What they talk about and who they talk to

This made me look deeper in to my life and see what my passion really was. What do I spend the bulk of my money on or how do I spend the bulk of my time? Anything other than God for the three of these things and that is what is your idol. What do you spend all your time, money and conversation on? Television? Football? Hunting? Cars? Games? Toys? Whatever it is, that is what you in essence are “worshiping.” We need to spend our focus on God and on other people. Imagine how the world would be if we put Him and others above ourselves and our own interests. It’s definitely not easy and it’s difficult to do but it’s something that we all should be striving for. God commands us to “Go and make disciples of all nations” Matthew 28:19 and the greatest commandment of all to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind; and to love our neighbors as ourselves” Luke 10:27. In essence, Love God and Love People.

Another great piece of material that came out of Bill’s sermon is the Disciplemaking prayer. I try and read it every to do remind me of what’s most important while we live our lives.

Heavenly Father,
Thank you for giving me a disciplemaking way of life in Christ Jesus. As
I go through every part of this day, help me to love you and love the
people who cross my path—starting with my family. Don’t let me miss
the adventures you are sending my way to live and speak the Good
News about Jesus today. Draw my heart to you and to specific
people you want me to engage with Jesus-like disciplemaking. By
your Word and Spirit, transform me into a follower of Jesus who loves
you, loves people, and makes disciples—who make more disciples,
ad infinitum.
In Jesus’ name, amen.

Cadre Ministries is doing some great work and I thank Bill Allison and the rest of his team for the awesome job they are doing in spreading God’s word.

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After months of training, lots of early morning runs, sore muscles and eating better I can proudly say that I finished my first ever 5K. I ran the Africa Hope Run on October 19th and ended up in the middle of the pack. I wasn’t so much concerned with time or pace as I was finishing the race. Ultimately I had not run prior to the race itself for over a week before running this race and surprisingly I was able to post my best pace since I started training. My wife and daughter were there to cheer me on and it was such a great feeling to be able to cross the finish line. Months of hard work and determination had finally paid off. Some stats about the journey:

-Training started on June 24th
-First average pace time 12 minutes, 39 seconds
-5K race run on October 19th
-Final pace time 11 minutes, 40 seconds
-Distance ran 3.1 miles
-Total weight lost 29 lbs
-Bad cholesterol down 20 points

I want everyone who is out there to know that anyone can start exercising and accomplish what they set their mind to. When I started the Couch to 5K program I was very sedentary and didn’t exercise at all. I knew I needed to do something so I started small. Just getting out an walking on a regular basis is a great first step. The Couch to 5K program is great because it eases you in to running. The main thing is to just keep at it. There were plenty of days where I didn’t want to get up before the sun and get out and run but I did it anyways. Knowing I had signed up, paid for and committed myself to a race helped. One question I’ve got from others is “are you going to keep running?” For me the 5K was a bucket list type thing and I’m not so certain I’ll keep running. It tends to wreak more havoc on my back and knees than I’d like but I do plan to keep exercising. The bi-product of this training has been losing weight and getting in better physical health. So in short, get out there, exercise, and have fun doing it! At the risk of sounding cliche, if I can do it anyone can!